Container segment

Key figures

in € million

 

1–9 | 2019

 

1–9 | 2018

 

Change

Revenue

 

605.5

 

571.2

 

6.0 %

EBITDA

 

186.1

 

161.5

 

15.3 %

EBITDA margin in %

 

30.7

 

28.3

 

2.4 pp

EBIT

 

112.6

 

102.9

 

9.4 %

EBIT margin in %

 

18.6

 

18.0

 

0.6 pp

Container throughput in thousand TEU

 

5,730

 

5,507

 

4.0 %

During the first nine months of 2019, the throughput volume at HHLA’s container terminals increased moderately by 4.0 % to 5,730 thousand standard containers (TEU) (previous year: 5,507 thousand TEU).

The three Hamburg container terminals achieved a slight increase in throughput volume of 1.2 % to 5,275 thousand TEU (previous year: 5,215 thousand TEU). The changes in service structure (addition of several services to North America, disposal of a Far East service) largely offset each other. Feeder traffic in the Baltic region decreased slightly due in particular to the falling volumes of the better-performing destination countries of Sweden, Finland and Poland. Growth in other shipping regions was unable to compensate for this. The proportion of seaborne handling by feeders was down slightly by 1.2 percentage points to 22.7 % (previous year: 23.9 %).

Throughput at the international container terminals in Odessa and Tallinn amounted to 454 thousand TEU in the reporting period (previous year: 292 thousand TEU). However, the prior-year figures are only comparable to a limited extent, as the container terminal in Tallinn was only incorporated into HHLA’s consolidated group as of the second half of 2018.

Compared to 2018, revenue in the first nine months increased by 6.0 % to € 605.5 million (previous year: € 571.2 million) compared to 2018. The average revenue per container handled at the quayside rose by 1.9 % year-on-year. This was caused by contractual rate adjustments as well as an increase in the rail share.

EBIT costs were influenced by the costs of HHLA TK Estonia, consolidated since the second half of 2018 and thus not included in the prior-year figures. The main burden resulted from rising personnel costs at existing sites. In addition to higher staffing requirements at the Container Terminal Tollerort as a result of the launch of new terminal software and additional hinterland volumes, this was also due to the conversion of the company pension scheme. The initial application of IFRS 16 led to a slight improvement. EBIT costs rose overall by 5.2 %.

The operating result (EBIT) increased by € 9.7 million or 9.4 % year-on-year to € 112.6 million (previous year: € 102.9 million). Of this increase, approximately € 8.0 million is attributable to the application of IFRS 16. The EBIT margin rose by 0.6 percentage points to 18.6 %.